The Bairnsdale Field Archers (BFA) had a great weekend
of archery and fun at the Macalister Trophy Hunters two-day event.
The afternoon session on day one kicked off with a spooky twist as archers took on Australian Bowhunter Association (ABA) zombie targets, with Halloween on everyone’s mind.
Only two arrows were allowed per target, the first aimed at the ABA scoring zones and the second for that all-important headshot.
Miss the mark and you were officially bitten by the zombie, the event enjoyed by seven BFA members, many turning up in costume.
These included Sonic the Hedgehog, Deadpool, and a D and D Ranger, as well as a mysterious archer in a skull shirt stalking the undead.
Sadly, the Joker in his nurse’s outfit and Michael Jackson couldn’t make it to the range after suffering some wardrobe malfunctions – the real horror story of the night.
Sunday turned up the heat, with temperatures hitting 30 and sunscreen, hats and plenty of water becoming essential.
Nine members attended with eight shooting across the two courses, achieving some great results.
For two of the shooters it was their first ever Gippsland Branch event, Ben and Oliver Rickhuss cheered on by younger brother Louie.
Ben shot back-to-back 356s for a total of 712 in the freestyle unlimited section, while Oliver impressed everyone (including the local MTH crew) with a fantastic 582 in the same category.
Jason O’Brien continued to show the rewards of practice, landing a new personal best of 774 for the course, smashing his previous best (set in 2022) by 52 points.
Terry Chatfield put in a solid performance under the tough conditions, walking away with his second best score at the range.
Graeme Parkinson had an incredible day, shooting 712 in the bowhunter recurve using wooden arrows, his best score yet in the category.
Carl Spink had a strong single-arrow round of 380, matching his previous venue score of 746 in yet another solid “A” grade performance.
David Hattam came agonisingly close to his personal goal of 700, finishing on 694, highlighted by a strong 368 in the three-arrow round.
Zoe Stanford came out firing in the morning, shooting past her previous best by 28 points and finishing with a perfect 20 on the final target.
It was a great weekend of archery, laughs, and a few zombie bites along the way.
All competitors looking forward to the next Gippsland Branch shoot in December, hosted back on home ground at Bairnsdale Field Archers.
